Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, except the ones that you don't recognize. Disney and Alliance Atlantis and so forth own them all. I know this took long, but I haven't been in the mood these past couple of days, and it takes me at most a week to get new chapters out because I'm busy at most times. I hope you like this one.

Note: *~*~* means a switch from present time to the time in the book and vice versa; ~~~~~ means a switch between different scenes; and ***** means a switch from past to present in the book or flashbacks. The italics are mostly when someone's thoughts.

Realization of Fate

More Than a Surprise

'Marry him?' Val's mouth fell open and an image of pure shock was evident on her face. Hank had a similar expression, until Jamie accidentally shot out some red wine that he was drinking a few seconds earlier.

"Thanks a lot, Jamie."

"Sorry."

Tyler shot them a glare as he returned his gaze to Andrea. And although they were at least fifteen yards away from the table, Brooke and Caitie also froze at Tyler's statement.

"He's kidding, right?" whispered Caitie to Brooke.

"I've known Tyler for a long time, and I don't think he's kidding."

Tyler had a hopeful look as he continued to gaze at Andrea. She had been silent for a longer time than he had expected, even though there was no sign of any shock whatsoever on her face.

"It'll be my honor," she finally said with a triumphant smile.

A huge smile emerged from Tyler's lips as he slipped the ribbon-like shaped ring of three diamonds on her finger. He stood up and gave her a kiss, followed by a hug.

"Well, congratulations," Hank finally spat out as he wiped the remaining red wine on his shirt.

"Thanks," Tyler said as he looked at Val as though asking for her approval.

"Congratulations," she forced a smile.

Tyler's smile grew wider and one by one, Jamie, Caitie, and Brooke gave them their best wishes.

"Thank you everyone," Andrea uttered. "I never though this day would come."

"Why?" asked Tyler, whose left arm was still around her. "I love you."

"I know," she said quite frankly. "I have to leave now. Thanks for the proposal. And by the way, I'd like Robert O'Brien to be the best man."

Caitie held the urge to jump and beat the hell out of her, and Brooke felt the same.

"You know, Andrea can be a totally nice and likeable person at times," whispered Brooke.

"But most of the time she can be a bitch," finished Caitie.

Andrea walked towards the door without any goodbye, or even a goodbye kiss for Tyler, who just moments ago became her fiancé. Tyler ran after her.

"Why don't you stay for the night?"

"With your daughter and her mother? Hmm, let me think. No, thank you."

"Wait. Do you have a problem with them staying here?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. If we're going to get married, I don't want them to be hanging around in our house."

"Val's not even planning on staying in the house for a long time."

"She's smarter than she looks."

"Why don't you stay?" he asked to change the subject.

"I told you already. Thanks, but no thanks."

"You know what, fine. You win. I don't want to fight with you."

"Who wants to lose anyway."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Tyler gave her a goodbye kiss and watched her leave from the door.

A black tinted Mercedes parked in front of the house. Andrea waved one last time to Tyler before getting in the car.

"Let's go," she said as the driver sped off.

When they were well off from Tyler's mansion, her driver spoke up.

"How are things going so far?"

"Everything's going perfectly fine," she laughed. "The hard part was just over. In three months time, I'll be Andrea Burbank, multi-millionaire model extraordinaire."

"I take it that he proposed."

"He was being disgustingly romantic, but a proposal is a proposal."

"So, where to Mrs. Connell?"

"Connell? I prefer that you call me Ms. Burbank."

"Well, then where to Ms. Burbank?"

"Do you really need to ask, Treb?"

The driver laughed as the car disappeared into traffic.

"I guess not."

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The Connell household became silent once again as Hank, Jamie, Caitie, Brooke, and the rest of the kids left. Tyler walked them all to the door. As soon as he turned around, he saw Val sitting on the stairs and looking at him. Gradually, he approached her.

"Don't worry. I'll clean up the mess. The helpers will be here tomorrow. I actually asked them to stay in the house for a while or so."

"Where are they staying?"

"They have their rooms," he replied as he settled beside her.

"Why don't they stay here anymore?"

"Andrea didn't like them for some reason. I thought they were great. They were the nicest group of people you could ask to help you with your house, and I trust them. Andrea on the other hand thought they were gold-diggers."

"Are they?"

"Of course not, but I didn't want to argue with her, so I just told them that I'd call in case I need them."

"So why did you call them back to stay here?"

"I don't know, but I guess I need them here."

"And do they were those fancy uniforms?"

"They wear an ensemble of white and black."

"Ah, like those French maids."

"Exactly," he laughed.

"How many are there?"

"Well, there are five regular helpers. Two people actually still live here, but I gave them two tickets on a cruise for their honeymoon."

"Oh, how sweet of you. Who are they?"

"Alfred Green is my butler, while Karen is the mistress of the house. She helps me with my clothes, and she's not afraid to tell me that I have bad taste at times."

"Well, I guess you need her a lot more than you thought," she said jokingly as she eyed his suit.

"Hey," he said as he elbowed her playfully. "I can dress myself."

Val laughed and a feeling of awkwardness filled the air between them.

"So, what did you think?"

"Think of what?"

"Earlier."

"Oh, well, you were really romantic."

"Not about that."

"Then about what?"

"Andrea."

"Well, she's… You know, what I mean."

"You don't like her?" he asked with a hint of disappointment.

"I think she's great," Val lied, bringing a smile of relief on Tyler's face.

"For a minute there, I thought you wouldn't approve."

"You don't need my approval, Tyler."

"I know, but I need your blessing with me on this one."

"Well, you have mine," she forced a smile.

"Thank you so much," he smiled back. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go right ahead."

"Would you be my maid of honor?"

"What?"

"Would you be my maid of honor?" he repeated.

"I thought that would be Andrea's job."

"She picked the best man, now I get to pick the maid of honor."

"Wouldn't she have a say in this? She probably won't like the idea."

"It's my wedding, too. If I had to pick the best man, I would pick Hank and Jamie."

"I just don't want to cause any trouble."

"You won't be. Andrea will come around."

"Why me?"

"I have my reasons."

Val looked at him skeptically before standing up.

"I better go to bed," she said as she began to climb the stairs.

"Val?"

"Yes, Tyler?"

"Thank you for coming here. You don't know how much it means to me to have you two here."

"Well, I know how much you missed Alyssa. She missed you a lot too. Plus, I just couldn't stand the 'I wanna see Daddy' speech anymore."

"She's not the only one I missed," he said as he came over to her side.

"She's not?"

"I missed you, too."

"You did?"

"Of course, Val," He smiled before giving her a hug. "You're one of my best friends. You're a big part of my life as much as Alyssa."

"I feel the same way," she said before escaping his embrace.

"Don't worry, Val. We'll be here for you and Alyssa. I didn't know Seth was such a jerk. I mean, what kind guy would impregnate his wife, and then call a divorce the following day? I always thought he loved you."

"I don't think I ever loved him, and it wasn't the following day."

"Okay, I was exaggerating, but he's still a jerk for what he did."

"Well, actually, he doesn't know about the divorce," she paused. "And he's not a jerk."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the one who's thinking about it. He just doesn't know it yet."

"Well, I still think he's a jerk."

"Seth isn't a jerk."

"Come on, the guy is letting you go here alone with Alyssa knowing that you're pregnant of his baby, and he's not even concerned about your safety."

"Well, the thing is he… Uh… Technically, he doesn't know about the… Uh…"

Val cringed from the look on Tyler's face, and she made a face of her own, like she's expecting a violent volcanic eruption from him.

"Val…" he said in a warning tone.

"Look, I just…" she began like she had a point before trailing off. "It was for the best."

"It doesn't matter, Val. He has the right to know. It's his freaking baby for God's sake."

"I know, so just calm down and stop yelling at me," she said as she returned to sitting on one of the steps, almost in tears. "It's just… Hard. I'm scared that he's going to ignore the baby. And what do you suppose I would say when the baby asks about his father?"

Tyler sat beside her once more and put an arm around her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was that hard for you."

Val looked at him with a tearstained face before she started to talk once again.

"You have no idea how grateful I am that you didn't run away when I told you I was pregnant."

"You didn't do anything by yourself. I just did what I had to do."

"Most guys would have left me alone."

"I'm not just any guy. I'm a lawyer you know."

"You know what they say about lawyers," Val smiled. "Especially male ones. They're a bunch of liars."

"Well, I'm not just any another lawyer. I'm Tyler Connell --- your best friend."

"Thank you."

"And you know that I would never do that."

"I know."

"Why don't you go to bed? We'll be visiting schools tomorrow for possible schools for Alyssa."

Val just nodded and headed towards her room.

"Good night, Tyler."

"Good night, Val. Sweet dreams."

"You too."

"See you in the morning."

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I know it was shorter than the other chapters, but I have to end this one here. I hope you liked it, and don't forget to review. Thanks for reading. I'll be back! ~ Scarlet182